Journal of Mathaira excerpt December 21
by Mathaira
Summary: Being my Account of the Candlelight Carnival on the Island of Dinotopia


Mathaira, traveling hatchery worker, Dinotopia  
  
Forbidden Mountains  
  
December 21 - Candlelight Carnival  
  
Having arrived in the Forbiddens a few days ago via Sky Galley, I had   
been welcomed into the home of my friends Petar and Natasha,   
proprietors of the Glacier Ridge Trading Post in Thermala, and their   
adopted daughter Ajzik. In this land of bone chilling cold, blowing   
snow, icy terrain, and fur covered mammals the services of a hatchery   
worker are obviously not in demand as in other regions of Dinotopia.   
Nevertheless for some time I have made regular though infrequent   
treks to Thermala, Sky City, and the Tentpole of the Sky as well as   
other Mountain villages for the purpose of trade, bartering such   
items as small baskets woven of reeds from Hadro Swamp and carefully   
protected flowering plants from the Rainy Basin and receiving in   
return the intricately woven blankets and beautifully designed cloaks   
fashioned by the famed Tentpole weavers, their skill producing these   
works of art from the fur shed by the region's mammals. In the past,   
through bartering with my contacts in the Mountains I have also been   
able to obtain ice, snow, and reindeer milk from which I prepared a   
sweet frozen concoction as a special dessert for my friends in the   
lower regions of the Island, however the narrative describing that   
incident is described in detail in another scroll.  
  
I was able to bed down these past nights in Ajzik's sleeping   
quarters, having developed an aquaintance with Petar and Natasha's   
adopted daughter upon our meeting several seasons ago, our   
relationship having since developed into friendship and joined   
hearts. We have sat up many a long night trading confidences, silent   
companionship, and shared laughter, her purring giggle mingling with   
my own soft chuckles as we strive to stiffle our humor out of respect   
for her parents and for the sake of their sleep. Sharing the warmth   
of my friend's furred golden body, the name Ajzik by the way   
meaning "gold", I have had no need for any other sleep covering,   
pillowing my head on Ajzik's massive paws and nestling against her   
soft fur.  
  
The Sabertooth walked with a limp, her right rear leg having been   
injured in an avalanche when she was but a cub, her parents having   
been killed in the same tradgedy. Petar, as part of the team clearing   
the avalanche from the Mountain pass, had discovered the injured cub   
and brought her back to the Trading Post where Natasha treated her   
injury and nursed her back to health. In typical Dinotopian fashion,   
the human couple adopted the Smilodon as their own daughter and she   
assisted in the running of the Trading Post. Though somewhat wary at   
first, the Mountain inhabitants gradually accepted Ajzik as one of   
their own and she was now firmly entrenched in the village.  
  
Though of different species and neither speaking the other's   
language, the young Smilodon and I have devised a means of   
communication through vocalization, body posture, gestures and of   
course the Footprint Alphabet which is common throughout the Island.   
Ajzik's years of living with her human parents had given her the   
ability to understand the nuances of human speech while my own   
relationship with ShadowStriker has taught me the rudiments of   
rumbles and growls, though the Tyrannosaur vocalization emanates deep   
within the body while the Sabertooth language generates from the   
throat. It is in this way Ajzik and I share our late night   
discussions and further bond our friendship.  
  
Petar and Natasha having left the previous day in order to make a   
stop at Bigtusk Flats, a village at the base of the Tentpole, in   
order to barter some of the hand crafted candle holders chiseled by a   
local artisan out of the chunks of granite which often fell during   
minor rockslides common to the region, in exchange receiving the   
woven outer garments such as hooded parkas and furred mittens which   
are often in demand in Thermala, that village playing host more   
frequently to travelers from more temperate regions of the Island.   
Bigtusk Flats, by the way, is so named for the ancient mammoth, now   
deceased, from which the Habitat Partner called Bigtusk is descended.   
The village, once inhabited solely by mammoths, is now shared by   
mammoths and other mammals, including humans.  
  
Setting out shortly after dawn, I shouldered the bulky pack   
containing my personal belongings along with provisions, having had   
to loosen the straps in order to accomodate its wearing over the   
heavy parka-like cloak which protected me from the icy climate. The   
Smilodon had no such need of additional insulation, her thick golden   
fur providing its own coverage against the blowing snow and freezing   
winds. Her muscular body enabling her to carry more than her share,   
Azjik bore the majority of our provisions in heavy pouches strapped   
to her broad back. Having traveled enough times in this more frigid   
region of Dinotopia, I knew to strap my water pouch beneath my cloak   
directly against my body in order to keep its contents from freezing.   
Likewise, Azjik bore her much larger water containers in the section   
of pouches resting against her warm fur.  
  
Though the distance from the Glacier Ridge Trading Post on the   
outskirts of Thermala to the low plateau of the Forbiddens where the   
Tibetans were sculpting the ice Temple was not great when measured in   
necklengths, the snowbound path with its deep drifts and the constant   
blowing of frigid winds descending from the deep ridges of the   
Forbidden Mountains, lengthened the journey and made the time pass   
slowly. A faint path was visible but not easily traversed, thus I   
encouraged Ajzik to take the lead, her broad muscular body cutting a   
swath in the deep snow and allowing me to follow in her wake. We did   
not mind the rugged trek as we traveled amiably, oftentimes in   
constant coversation yet drifting at other times into companionable   
silence and especially at this time quiet reflection regarding the   
upcoming Carnival.  
  
Upon our midmorning arrival at the plateau, a festive atmosphere   
pervades those present in the proximity of the carved Temple which   
seemingly towers almost as high as the lowest Mountain ridge. The   
Temple had been adorned by the Tibetans with finely wrought etchings   
and ancient inscriptions detailing the Island's first Candlelight   
Carnival. As the day wore on the celebratory mood was replaced by an   
attitude of hushed anticipation and silent contemplation.  
  
As twilight fell over the low plateau of the Forbiddens, the ice   
Temple reflected the subdued hues of the rapidly descending sun   
behind the Mountains. Dusky red mingled with muted orange and pale   
lavendar and set the Temple ablaze with a riot of colors.  
  
I retrieved a small intricately woven basket from my bulky pack.   
Removing its lid I withdrew a soft cloth pouch the color of newly   
budded ginko leaves. After loosening the drawstring I removed two   
small parcels wrapped in a shimmering material of brilliant purple   
hue, the color resembling that of Arcticum longevus flowers.   
  
Contained within the first carefully wrapped parcel lay a single   
Candle, a pillar, a miniature version of the columns seen in the   
capital city of Sauropolis. Much time had I labored in preparing the   
Candle. Made of sweet-smelling wax from bayberry bushes, I had made   
several forays from my pod home in Bonabba and ventured into the   
Rainy Basin, careful to remain on the fringes of the territory   
bordering the Polongo River. As the bayberry bushes released their   
bounty I gathered the grayish green berries from the Basin floor.   
Boiling the berries and extracting the wax was a time consuming   
process but made more enjoyable as village residents gathered on the   
central green near the pond, each individual preparing their own   
Candle in much the same way yet adding their own special touches to   
make their Candle uniquely theirs. After fashioning the pillar shape   
to my liking, while the wax was still warm I had carefully pressed   
dried pear blossoms around the diameter of the Candle, reminding me   
of the orchards near my pod home alongside the Gardens. I then   
sprinkled upon the surface bits of dried giant ferns of the type   
found in the Rainy Basin, bringing to mind the time I had spent in   
that region and my unlikely bonding with one of its residents. As the   
Candle burned the sweet scent of bayberry would be joined by the   
delicate fragrance of the pear flowers and the earthy smell of the   
Basin.  
  
On this night, after withdrawing my Candle from its wrappings, I next   
unfurl the Candle's holder from the bright cloth which binds and   
protects it. Quite unusual in shape, it resembles the dormant volcano   
of Volcaneum, a gift from a Rutiodon couple, Abbott and Shala,   
several seasons back. I was priveleged to receive this token as an   
expression of their gratitude as I had traveled from the Romano   
Hatchery to Pumice Town in order to attend the emerging of Mabry,   
their first hatchling, that particular species prefering to remain in   
their own domicile rather than journeying to one of the hatcheries on   
the Island.  
  
Gently placing my Candle on its holder I join Ajzik and assist her in   
fastening a small votive type candle to a glacier shaped holder   
strapped to her midsection, the Sabertooth not particularly fond of   
the flame yet wanting to honor her deceased parents with the amber   
colored Candle bearing two deep scratches made by her claws and the   
single word "love" inscribed in the Smilodon language.   
  
Likewise I had also carved a single word on my Candle,   
simply "cumspiritik", this phrase along with the mingling of the pear   
blossoms and the Basin ferns embedded in my Candle indicating the   
special bond, unlikely though it was, shared by ShadowStriker and   
myself. Knowing that at this same moment that he was preparing to   
light a similar Candle from the brazier of coals I had left with him,   
much larger of course and decorated with entire fern leaves and   
sprinkled with crushed pear blossoms, his Candle was also carved with   
the phrase "cumspiritik" though in the Carnosaur language.  
  
Ajzik and I approached the Temple together, sisters of the heart   
despite our different species. As I lit my Candle from one of the   
sacred ones provided by the Tibetans and placed it on one of the   
carved niches of the ice Temple, I knew in my heart that   
ShadowStriker was doing the same in the Basin, though placing his   
Candle in a carved rock face rather than within an icy sculpture.   
Like my friendship with Ajzik, my bond with ShadowStriker transcended   
our differences, broke through the barriers of species and language,   
creating a true "cumspiritik" during the Candlelight Carnival.  
  



End file.
